You can’t make an action movie like this in 2017 and expect anyone to be impressed with it. Not when studios crank out Bourne, Bond, John Wick, Atomic Blonde, The Raid, etc. Those are movies that execute things at such a high level with passable stories that at least allow you to buy into the character. Hell, even Jack Reacher had some self-awareness to it that made the shrug-worthy, ridiculous, sequel mildly enjoyable. American Assassin is an all-around pretty bad movie but it does have a few bright spots. It honestly felt like the writers watched a Bourne movie, then got high, and played 3 hours of Call of Duty on easy difficulty before putting pen to paper.

Varèse Sarabande will release John Carpenter’s classic score for ‘CHRISTINE‘ on LP available September 29, 2017. The ‘CHRISTINE– Original Motion Picture Score‘ has been fully remastered and is being released on blue vinyl. The album features fantastic new art from award-winning movie poster artist Gary Pullin (“Ghoulish Gary”).

Arrow Video has announced their lineup for September with some excellent titles in time for Halloween. All releases come with new HD transfers and some pretty cool extras. Be sure to read all about them below and pre-order for the cheapest price. I can’t wait to watch these fun gems again.

Could there be a third Gremlins film? Yes, very much so. If you follow Gremlins actor Zach Galligan, you’d know that every Monday, he tweets out something about getting Gremlins 3 made. Looks like that has finally happened, which I couldn’t be more excited about. Chris Columbus has written a script for the third film, which he wrote the screenplay for the original film as well as The Goonies and has directed a ton of great films.

THE FILM

Film Portion Reviewed by Janet White:

In typical 70s film fashion, Free Fire opens with an aerial scan of the city below. Curvaceous, bold letters displayed nearly every cast member and some of the crew. This got very old, long, and kept the pace slow. Two men waiting in an alley… (Sounds like a bad joke, it was). Stevo (Sam Riley) and Bernie (Enzo Cilenti) meet up with Justine (Brie Larson), Chris (Cillian Murphy), and Frances (Michael Smiley) for a shady gun buy with Ord (Armie Hammer), Vernon (Sharlto Copley), Martin (Babou Ceesay), Gordon (Noah Taylor), and Harry (Jack Reynor, how did they turn this hottie into a slob?). Great cast, right? Well, great casts alone do not a great film make. The dialogue and plot points must harness and ride with that talent.

Want to win a free Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy of The Best Action Sequel ever – JOHN WICK 2? Now you can. The film is rated R and perfectly forwards the story of our favorite assassin John Wick. The stunts and gun-fu are phenomenal and story is super fun I can’t wait for more films.

In addition to the Blu-ray, you will receive a John Wick 2 pencil, which you can write your memoirs with or you know, take out three bad guys in a bar. In addition to that, you will receive a replica gold coin from the film.

Want to win a free Digital Copy of the latest ‘Star Wars’ film ‘Rogue One‘? Now you can. I was a huge fan of the film, which took place in between Ep. III and Ep. IV, and focused on a woman named Jyn Erso and a group of others who set out to steal the Death Star plans to give to a certain princess. It was a fantastic movie.

WITNESS ME!!! Varèse Sarabande Records is Re-Releasing the original trilogy of the ‘Mad Max‘ films on vinyl in a 3-LP set. These albums came out in their respective years upon release, but are now fairly difficult to find and can be expensive. For those of you who love the original ‘Mad Max‘ soundtracks, this set will sure make it a lovely day for you. Below is all the information about the releases. Plus, you’ll get some Tina Turner greatness here. Note: There are only 2,000 copiesthat will be available, so act fast.

Filmmaker Emiliano Rocha Minter has certainly cemented his name in the annals of art house horror and sexual fantasy cinema with his Spanish film ‘We Are The Flesh‘. Standing in the same room with films of Gaspar Noe (‘Irreversible‘, ‘Enter The Void‘), John Waters (‘Pink Flamingos‘), and dare I even say Pier Paolo Pasolini (‘Salo: 120 Days of Sodom‘), ‘We Are The Flesh‘ takes a very violent and sexual look into a surreal apocalyptic scenario in something that you’ve never really seen before. For all of its taboo subjects that it has no problems or apologies for showing on screen, sometimes which is up close and personal, Minter gives a very Kubrick-esque look at this bizarre story.

Cinemax has taken on a partnership with Justin Lin and Bruno Wu’s Seven Stars Studios, Jonathan Tropper, the TV division of Perfect Storm Entertainment, and Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon Lee. The subject of that partnership is a crime drama for the cabler based on material written by the legendary martial artist, Lee, titled ‘Warrior‘.

It has to be a lot of fun to mess with the mind of an audience in filmmaking. Intruder, like many home-related thrillers, leaves me looking over my shoulder as much as any of them. While I know that noise I just heard in the other room is my washer wrapping up it’s final cycle, my mind instead immediately races to “WHAT COULD I MACGYVER AS A WEAPON IN HERE!?” Now that I have a straightened out paper clip taped to the end of my remote, let’s continue.

It’s very rare when a movie like ‘Lazer Team‘ comes out. It’s over-the-top, ridiculous, raunchy, and very silly. However, it works on every level and I found myself having an excellent time in the theater from start to finish, laughing so hard, it hurt. Matt Hullum and Burnie Burns, the duo that is responsible for the iconic ‘Red vs. Blue‘ series wrote and directed this hilarious feature film. ‘Lazer Team‘ happened because the fans made it happen with a strong crowd funding campaign that ended up earning three times more than what they asked for, and it’s evident in the movie.

‘Fantastic Fest‘ has released their 2nd wave of programming with a huge roster that would work as an entire film fest on its own! Add it to the first wave programming seen here, and by Jupiter’s Cock, it’s going to be exciting!!! There will be advance screenings of ‘The Martian‘, ‘High-Rise‘, ‘Green Room‘, and ‘The Keeping Room‘.

“This is a big year for genre cinema. We’re exceptionally proud to honor incredible filmmakers and welcome back some of Fantastic Fest’s favorites,” said Tim League, Fantastic Fest and Alamo Drafthouse CEO/Founder.

Sticking true to Fantastic Fest’s penchant for chaos and explosive events, they welcome Itchy-O to Austin for the first time. A blazing, 32-member aural assault from the darkest depths of Colorado, Itchy-O is a wholly immersive, musical experience on a massive scale. Said festival director Kristen Bell, “We cannot wait for them to unleash their percussive mayhem on our audience as hysteria has a welcome home at Fantastic Fest.”

See below for the full lineup of newly announced film titles for Fantastic Fest 2015. Final wave of titles to be announced shortly.

Amy Winehouse might have been one of the best all time jazz singers in the world. In fact, I believe she still can hold that title, even almost five years after her death. Her voice was something unlike anyone ever heard and could be in the same league as Etta James, Billie Holiday, and Edith Piaf. In addition to her voice, she was charming, witty, and a ton of fun to be around. You just couldn’t get enough of her likable personality. Unfortunately in 2011, Amy died of alcohol poisoning at the age of 27, making her one of the latest members of the ’27 club’, which Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, and Brian Jones all belong to.

‘Nomads‘ was director John McTiernan’s freshman directorial effort. He would take what he learned from this film and employ it in a handful of films from the years surrounding the 1990’s that make up a few quintessential examples of film from that decade, not to mention one of the must-watch movies of the Christmas season. ‘Predator‘, ‘Die Hard‘, ‘The Hunt For Red October’, ‘Last Action Hero‘, ‘Die Hard With A Vengeance‘ and ‘The 13th Warrior‘ are among his noted resume. You caught the Christmas movie in there didn’t you? 1988’s ‘Die Hard‘ happily finds itself in the playlist on my home DVD player between ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation‘ and ‘A Christmas Story‘.